What Does a Reference Librarian Do?

In addition to being the Teen Services Librarian, I am also the Reference Librarian. You might be wondering just exactly what does a Reference Librarian do. Basically, I answer questions. They come from patrons, either in person, by phone, or through email.

It's always been satisfying helping high school and college students find materials needed to write their research and term papers, using books or through our huge database, MAGNOLIA.

I also answer simple questions, such as finding phone numbers and addresses, facts about states, how to spell or define an obscure word, etc. However, I do receive more challenging questions or requests for research from all over the country - especially from genealogists.

Since moving here from Ohio almost ten years ago, I have decided every person in the United States must have some kind of connection to Natchez. My cup runneth over with requests for obituaries, birth records, any mention of "my great-great grandfather who once owned a store downtown back in 1898." As I rattle my brain looking for informaion or go nearly blind reading old microfilm, I keep telling myself that this is job security.

Just when I want to throw my hands in the air from frustration, I get a gem of a question from one of my local patrons that puts a smile on my face. It reminds me that my job is different every day, and I'm always learning something new, whether I want to or not.

Here are a few questions that came across my desk or were asked of other librarians across the country.

• Do you have the book,  How to Kill a Mockingbird?
• Can you help me find a book I checked out several weeks ago? I can't remember the title but the book was blue with gold letters!
• Can you send me a list of all the local criminal lawyers in town? (Letter sent from inmate at local jail.)
• I need a photograph of Jesus. No, not a painting or picture, but a photograph!
• Don't you have any Shakspeare in real English?
• I'm trying to find the words to a song, if I hum the tune can you figure it out?

Never a dull moment. I love my job!

1863 to 1963 to 2013

When he established Negro History Week in 1926, Dr Carter Woodson realised the importance of providing a theme that would focus the attention of the public . The Association for the Study of African American Life and History designated the theme for the 2013 Black History Month as the celebration of the 150th and 50th anniversary of two African American turning points: the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation and the 1963 March on Washington.

The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, declared that slaves in all confederate states then at war with the Union were "forever free" and made them eligible for paid military service in the Union Army. Although it did not end slavery in the nation, it did transform the character of the war. After the Proclamation was made, every advance of Federal troops expanded the domain of freedom, and black men were allowed to serve in the Union armed services. By the end of the war almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for freedom.

The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place on August 28, 1963 in Washington, DC. More than 200,000 demonstrators took part in the walk. Dr Martin Luther King, Jr delivered his I Have a Dream speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, noting that the Emancipation Proclamation gave hope to black slaves. The following year Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as a concrete step of fulfilling the promise of the Emancipation Proclamation.

A good way to celebrate Black History Month is to learn more about these two major events in our history - and especially to educate our young people about their significance. What better place to learn than your Library. Come in to see all that we have to offer and bring children with you.

It's Awards Time Again!

Yes, it's that time again! Awards are being aired practically every weekend for the next month. We have The Golden Globes, The Grammys, and The Oscars. Everyone in entertainment is getting ready to be recognized for their great performances in film and music. While all the TV hype has been going on, the lists for award winning young adult literature quietly arrived in my email box. Here are a few titles to tantalize my teen readers.

PRINTZ AWARD

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. On October 11, 1943, a British spy plane crashes in Nazi occupied France. When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution. As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she becomes friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane.

Dodger by Terry Pratchett. Seventeen year old Dodger may be a street urchin, but he makes his living from London's sewers, and he knows a jewel when he sees one. He's not about to let anything happen to the unknown girl, not even if her fate impacts the most powerful people in England. With Dodger's encounter with the mad barber Sweeney Todd to his meetings with the great writer Charles Dickens, history and fantasy intertwine in a breathtaking account of adventure and mystery.

YALSA AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN NONFICTION

Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip Hoose (on order). In 1995, he received a black band on his lower right leg and an orange flag on his upper left, bearing the laser inscription B95. Scientists call him the Moonbird because, in the course of his astoundingly long life, this gritty, four ounce marathoner has flown the distance to the moon and half way back. B95 is a robin sized shorebird from the rufa species. Each February, he joins a flock that lifts off from Tierra del Fuego, headed for the breeding grounds in the Canadian Arctic, nine thousand miles away. This species of bird has lost nearly 80% of its population because many of its ancient feeding stations along the migration circuit have been destroyed by human activity. Moonbird has been sighted as recently as November 2011, which makes him nearly twenty years old. Shaking their heads, scientists ask themselves: How can this one bird make it year after year when so many others fail?

Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin. A suspenseful combination of science and history, Sheinkin exposes the international race to develop an atomic weapon and bring an end to World War II. This true life spy thriller features an international cast of characters and will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Period photographs of key players and an abundance of primary sources bring this well researched story to life.

These are just a few of the winners and all can either be found on the shelves of the Teen Zone or they are in the process of being purchased. These books and their authors are being recognized for great writing, captivating stories, wonderful characters, and interesting research. Don't be afraid to expand your horizons, you may never know what great things you'll find. Ask the Teen Librarian for a full list of winners and finalists.

New Books for January

FICTION

A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. The 14th and final novel in the Wheel of Time fantasy series.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  A woman disappears on her fifth anniversary; is her husband a killer?

The Fifth Assassin by Brad Meltzer.  Tracking an assassin who is recreating the crimes of the four men who murdered presidents, Beecher White discovers that they all were working together.

The Third Bullet by Stephen Hunter. The veteran sniper Bob Lee Swagger investigates the assassination fo John F. Kennedy.

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini. A novel about Elizabeth Kechkly, who was born a slave, earned her freedom through her dressmaking skill and became a friend to Mary Todd Lincoln; she is a character in the movie : Lincoln.

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis. Fifty-some years in teh life if ab African-American family whose matriarch arrives in Philadelphia in 1923.

Standing in Another Man's Grave by Ian Rankin. After retiring from the Edinburgh police force, John Rebus investigates the case of a young woman who disappeared in 1999.

Kinsey and Me by Sue Grafton. Stories about Grafton's character Kinsey Millhone as well as explorations of Grafton's own past.

The Forgotten by David Baldacci. The military investigator John Puller, the protagonist of "Zero Day," probes his aunt's mysterious death in Florida.

Collateral Damage by Stuart Woods.  Back in New York, the lawyer Stone Barrington joins his former partner Holly Barker in pursuing a dangerous case.

The Round House by Louise Ardrich. A native American family faces the ramifications of a vicious crime.

The Husband List by Janet Evanovich. In New York City in 1894, a wealthy young woman yearns for adventure and the love of an Irish-American with new money, rather than the titled Britons to whom her mother hopes to marry her off.

NONFICTION

Thomas Jefferson by Jon Meacham. The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer celebrates Jefferson's skills as a practical politician.

No Easy Day by Mark Owen with Kevin Maurer. An account by a former member of the Navy SEALS, written pseudonymously, of the mission that killed bin Laden.

TEENS

Ali's Pretty Little Lies: Pretty Little Secrets by Sara Shepard. In the weeks leading up to Ali's murder, Ali reveals her plots against Emily, Hanna, Aria, and Spencer, as well as a dark secret that has the potential to destroy everything.

Bitter Blood by Rachel Caine. College student Claire Danvers struggles to remain neutral in the growing conflict between the vampiers and humans of Morganville, which is further complicated by the arrival of a ghost-seeking television production crew.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor. Seventeen-year-old Karou, a lovely, enigmatic art student in a Prague boarding school, carries a sketchbook of hideous, frightening monsters--the chimaerae who form the only family she has ever know.

Blood Moon by Alyxandra Harvey. When the vampire tribes convene for the rare Blood Moon ceremonies, family secrets and forbidden magic put all of the Drakes in danger, and Nicholas is caught between saving his little sister Solange or his girlfriend Lucy.

CHILDREN

The Best Time to Read by Debbie Bertram. A boy who has just learned to read tries to find someone in his family who will listen to him read aloud.

Pete the Cat Saves Christmas James Dean. When Santa falls ill and Christmas may have to be canceled, Pete the cat comes to the rescue.

Ace Atkins - At home in Mississippi

Fans of the late Robert B Parker have asked me, "Who is this Ace Atkins who's taken over writing the Spencer books?"

Well, as it turns out, Ace Atkins is quite an interesting guy! (His real name is Ace, by the way: William Ace Atkins.)

Currently visiting professor in Journalism at the University of Mississippi, Atkins has an extensive background as a crime writer. He covered the crime beat as staff reporter for the Tampa Tribune from 1996 through 2001. He wrote his first two novels during that period. His first, Crossroad Blues, is about the murder of Robert Johnson in 1938.

His reporting on the unsolved murder of Tampa crime boss Charlie Wall earned him a Pulitzer Prize nomination in 2000. In 2006, Atkins turned the story into the novel White Shadow. Colleen Bancroft, Tampa Bay Times book editor commented, "White Shadow, the best novel set in Tampa I've read."

His next novels, Wicked City, Devil's Garden. and Infamous were all set in personally relevant locations: San Francisco, Alabama (where he was born) and Tampa. A mixture of first-hand interviews, original research into police and court records and tightly woven plots, they reflect Atkins' interest in true crime stories. In Devil's Garden, Atkins explores the early life of one of his heroes, Dashiell Hammett, the originator of the hard-boiled crime novel.

Recently Atkins began a series featuring Quinn Colson, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan who returns home to north Mississippi. In 2011 the estate of Robert B Parker tapped him to continue the Spenser novels. When he was offered the previous books for reference, he answered that wouldn't be necessary - he already owned all of them! Robert B Parker was one of his literary heroes. Release of the two series is being coordinated so that the Spenser books will appear in the spring and the Colson books in the summer.

When asked why he moved to Mississippi, Atkins said, "Because most of my books are set in Mississippi, because the looks of the land and the people are different from the rest of the country, and because Mississippi is a very culturally rich state." He lives on a historic farm outside Oxford with his family.

Lovers of Parker's books I have spoken to have received Ace Atkins as a worthy successor, and that is really saying something! The next Spenser novel, Wonderland, will be out in May.

Find out more about him at his website.

Favorite Reads 2012: The Greater Journey

I love to read nonfiction, especially history and biography. Obviously, David McCullough is one of my favorite authors. His books are so well written that you might think they were fiction. They definitely are not, as they are meticulously researched.

His latest, The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris, is a bit different from his earlier books. It's not about one person or event, and it doesn't take place in the United States. It's about the hundreds of Americans who went to Paris between 1830 and 1900 - not to visit or live - but to study. These were American artists, doctors, writers, scientists, and others who were adventurous enough to cross the Atlantic Ocean (which in those days was a dangerous and long trip) just to learn. They went on to have a tremendous effect on American culture and history.

What we as Americans may not realize is that during these years there was no place in America to learn these skills. Since they had to leave home, they decided to go to the best place to learn - Paris, France. Paris was the intellectual and cultural center of the world at that time. The book ends in 1900, because by then, it was no longer necessary to leave the US to study, mainly because of these intrepid adventurers who brought their knowledge home.

I was amazed at how many well known American artists, physicians, writers, and others made the "greater journey" to Paris. Elizabeth Blackwell, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Mark Twain, Samuel Morse, James Fenimore Cooper, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Charles Sumner, John Singer Sargent, and Mary Cassatt are just a few.

Through the eyes of this author you will come to love Paris and vividly see the impact of this city upon these American students. You will also come to realize the tremendous effect these travelers had on our country. It also has many magnificent color pictures. This is an inspiring, enlightening, and entertaining book that I can highly recommend.

Favorite Reads 2012: Have You Met Pete the Cat?

Have you read to your child today? Have you been upstairs in our Children's Department lately? If not then I must introduce you to one of my new favorite characters, Pete the Cat!

Pete is a cool, laid back, blue cat who never sweats the small stuff. He never gets flustered when he runs into a problem, and he always manages to find a way to make lemonade out of lemons. He teaches young kids ages 4 and up to be resilient and to bounce with the bumps in life.

My first introduction to this "cool cat" was the book Pete the Cat: I Love my White Shoes written by Eric Litwin and illustrated by James Dean.  The book begins with Pete singing about how much he loves his new white shoes. On each new page he steps into colorful piles of strawberries, blueberries, mud; each time changing his shoes to a new color. Does he whine? Does he complain? Heck No! He just sings a new song about red shoes, blue shoes, and brown shoes and so on.

Frankly, things don't get much better than a happy song about each and every bad luck event, each of which can be turned into something positive. This is a book any child would love, as well as would the adult in his or her life.

The Library has been building up our collection of Pete the Cat books so come in and introduce yourselves to Pete. You can also find Pete at his web page. Here you will be introduced to the author and illustrator who also have very interesting background stories themselves.